Madonna news - Aug. 2003

13 August - Kabbalah teacher: "We're
always there for Madonna"
Michael Shelden, reporter of The Telegraph, had an interview with
Madonna's Kabbalah guru Rabbi Yehuda Berg. Of course the interview
refers regularly to Madonna's devotion to this "punk rock
of spiritual philosophy". You can read
it here.11 August - Madonna wants to do everything
Forget any of the music tours Madonna's put together over the
last two decades--come September 15, the former Material Girl
will be in more than 100 countries simultaneously when her first-ever
children's book hits shelves worldwide. English Roses will be
a fairy tale that includes a few themes borrowed from the Kabbalah,
the book of mystical teachings of the Jewish religion. It's to
be the first of a five-volume set, each of which will be illustrated
by a different famous artist. Madonna will be on hand in Paris
to unveil the first book, and will likely have a book-signing
event to help publicize the event. Publishers are hopeful that
English Roses will have crossover appeal to adults, a trend begun
over the last few years by the wild success of the Harry Potter
series. Madonna says that she sees life as full of opportunities
and she plans to take advantage of them all. "I want to do
everything," Madonna says. "I want to write. I want
to direct, you know, I want to go on tour again. I want to make
more music. I want to read more books. I want to travel more.
I want to do everything." (source: Yahoo!
Launch) 11 August - Billboard Dance Club Play Record
Time to celebrate Madonna's 30th number one single in the US Billboard
Dance Club Play Chart! Hollywood, which was at number 2 on this
same chart last week has now reached the number one spot. Congratulations
Madonna!
TW - LW Title Artist Label/Dist Label Catalog
1 - 2 Hollywood (Remixes) Madonna Maverick/Warner Bros. 42638
2 - 4 Sunrise (Love To Infinity & ATFC Remixes) Simply Red
simplyred.com PROMO
3 - 9 Bucci Bag (P. Rauhofer, R. H. Vission, & J. Vicious
Mixes) Andrea Doria Star 69 1263
4 - 1 Pavement Cracks (Remixes) Annie Lennox J/RMG PROMO
5 - 5 I Wish I Wasn't (Remixes) Heather Headley RCA/RMG PROMO
(source: Madonna.com)
08 August - New Gap pic
The latest issue of Bazaar magazine, featuring Madonna on the
cover, has a previously unseen picture from the GAP campaign.
(source: Madonnalicious, Madonna Drowned World)08 August - Madonna in next Charlie's Angels? *rumour*
Pop queen Madonna has taken career tips from semi-retired actress
Demi Moore - having been bowled over by her cameo role in Charlie's
Angels: Full Throttle. The pop diva, who has had little success
with her own movie career, is impressed by the way Demi's minor
role in the sequel has turned the star's ailing career around.
Drew Barrymore, who co-produced and starred in the two Angels
films, has reportedly already received a call from Madonna begging
for a cameo role in the third movie. (source: Soundbuzz)08 August - Madonna at MTV EMA? *rumour*
The Edinburgh Evening News have stated that Madonna is "tipped
to appear" at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards in Edinburgh,
Scotland. The ceremony takes place on November 6th and at present,
ticket information is not available. (source: Absolute
Madonna)08 August - Madonna is favorite for future oldies radio
Tomorrow's youngsters better get used to hearing Ray
of Light or "Elevation" on their parents' radios.
Readers who responded to The Daily Journal's weekly Web site poll
said they will most likely hear tunes by Madonna or U2 on the
oldies radio station of the future. Madonna captured 39 percent
of votes cast by 187 readers who responded. U2 nabbed 28 percent.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Norah Jones, Eminem, Metallica and
Jay-Z hauled in between 4 and 7 percent of the remaining votes.
And rapper Snoop Dogg finished last with just under 3 percent
of the votes cast. (source: Daily
Journal)08 August - Back in Business
Yes! Mad-Eyes finally made it back online after a downtime of
almost 10 days. My lovely hosts had decided to suspend my account
after discovering that I offer some Madonna videos for streaming,
though officially they're copyrighted material. Though I assured
them to take them down, they didn't give me access anymore, so
I decided to switch over to a better host. The site should be
working fine again, though without video streaming (Madonna.com
and Launch.com have the monopoly on that now). Forum users can
also use our avatars again (sorry for the inconvenience). If you
happen to find some error somewhere (caused by the new upload),
don't hesitate to let me
know. Thanx for all your support!07 August - She's not Esther
Question: People here keep telling me that Madonna now insists
on being called Esther. And now I just heard the same thing on
the radio. All I can say is ????
Answer: A complete fabrication, prompted by the diamond encrusted
"E" she's sporting on a necklace. The tabloids claim
it stands for "Esther", as this is what she has decided
to call herself now in connection with the Kabballah. According
to Caresse, though, it's a tribute to her grandmother, Elsie Fortin.
(source: MLVC)07 August - Nile Rodgers: 'Madonna is the last real popstar'
- When u were working with Madonna she was nothing more than a
little singer with a few hits. Like
A Virgin made her an Icon.
"The first time I saw her I instantly knew she was gonna
make it. She had charisma, personality and she wasn't affraid
to role up her sleeves and get down to work. In all of showbizz
I don't know anybody who works as hard as she does. And every
place i took her, heads would turn. everyone wanted to know who
that girl was sitting next to Nile Rodgers. To me, she's the last
REAL popstar. The Marlene Dietrich of her generation. Even if
she never scores another hit, people will always be interested
in her."
- When u listen to Like A
Virgin, it really just sounds like another Chic album but
with a different singer.
"That's true. U can say that about most of my collaborations,
actually. You hear excited musicians playing their parts. Like
A Virgin is probably the most simple song I ever recorded
though. The whole thing was played live and recorded in one take.
No studio tricks or special effects. Madonna was also a lot easier
to work with than Diana Ross, who was already very much a superstar
when I met her. Naturally she behaved that way, too. She had a
real temper. I once told her in very polite way that her voice
wasn't sounding as good as usual that day. So, she just stormed
out of the studio and we had to wait 2 months before she came
back to finish the record." (source: De Morgen, thanx to
Dotmusic and MLVC)07 August - Estée Lauder uses Love Profusion
Estée Lauder will be using Love
Profusion in their upcoming advertising campaign beginning
in September and lasting one year. Luc Besson (Fifth Element,
The Messenger) will be directing the TV commercial. (source: Madonna.com)06 August - Silent Madonna
It would appear that Madonna hasn't completely given up on her
plans to become a screen icon. Her company, Maverick, has bought
the rights to another Hollywood tale about 1920s film star Clara
Bow. It seems that Madonna is keen to play the most famous movie
star of the silent era in the brand new screen venture. Clara
was known as the It-Girl of Hollywood, who played hard and enjoyed
a fast-living and glamourous lifestyle before lapsing into obscurity.
(New Magazine, thanx to Madonnalicious)06 August - Paris launch for The English Roses
Madonna will travel to Paris to launch the first of her children's
books, it has been announced.
The English Roses will be published simultaneously in 100 countries
in 30 languages on 15 September. It is about "feeling green
with envy, blue with loneliness, pink with embarrassment, purple
with rage and how to find true-blue friends", its publisher
has said. The singing superstar has signed a deal to write five
books for children aged six and above.
They will be based on Hebrew texts she is studying from the Kabbalah
religion and each will feature the work of a different, celebrated
illustrator. The singer will be joined by 40 book editors from
around the world at the offices of her French publishing house
Gallimard to celebrate the first release. Aged 44, she remains
a top-selling recording artist after 20 years in the music business.
(source: BBC)06 August - AL goes platinum
So far American Life is
platinum in United States, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan,
Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. (source: Madonna.com)05 August - Missy says she'd never disrespect Madonna
Singer and rapper Missy Elliott was recently accused of snubbing
Madonna on the set of the duos' Gap commercial. Elliott issued
a statement to New York Magazine on Monday (August 4) explaining
that she wasn't herself the day of the shoot because of a personal
crisis. Elliott explained, "Madonna came to me and asked
what was wrong, and I told her in a roundabout way. She called
her spiritual adviser over the day of the shoot; he gave me, like,
the red string, and he prayed for me. The rest of the shoot was
fine... I would never disrespect her." Reports were circulating
that Elliott refused to get out of her limousine on the set even
after Madonna tapped on the window and that Elliott initially
turned down Madonna's invitation to do lunch at her house. (source:
Yahoo!
Launch)